Vasoactive intestinal peptide regulates mitosis, differentiation and survival of cultured sympathetic neuroblasts.
Although acute, millisecond-to-millisecond actions of neurotransmitters are well documented, diverse longer-term effects have been discovered only recently. Emerging evidence indicates that these signals regulate a variety of neuronal processes, from phenotypic expression to neurite outgrowth. Here we show that a single putative transmitter, vasoactive intestinal peptide, can exert multiple, long-term effects simultaneously: it stimulates mitosis, promotes neurite outgrowth and enhances survival of sympathetic neuron precursors in culture. As the peptide seems to be a normal presynaptic transmitter in the sympathetic system, synaptic transmission may exert hitherto unexpected effects.
Pincus
D W
DW
Department of Neurology, Cornell University Medical College, New York, New York 10021.
DiCicco-Bloom
E M
EM
Black
I B
IB
D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000187:drug effects; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005728:Ganglia, Sympathetic / Q000166:cytology* / Q000196:embryology; D008938:Mitosis / Q000187:drug effects*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology* / Q000187:drug effects